Static events like dinners and check presentations rarely make for thrilling television, but Sparkman was glad to be heading out to cover such a well-known athlete, a local celebrity in Tuscaloosa. Though he realized that wilder’s promoter had proposed the story mostly to enhance the boxer’s reputation , he thought it still had news value. Heartwarming stories had been in short supply since the storm, and Sparkman wanted to show how a resilient community was recovering and hoe wilder was a playing a role.